Russia takes the fight to cyberspace

The Georgian embassy in the U.K. has accused forces within Russia of launching a coordinated cyberattack against Georgian Web sites, to coincide with military operations in the breakaway region of South Ossetia.Speaking to ZDNet UK on Monday, a Georgian embassy spokesperson said that Web sites had been unavailable over the weekend, claiming this was due to Russian denial-of-service attacks."All Georgian Web sites have been blocked," said the spokesperson. "Georgia is working on redirecting Web traffic."

Looks like Google's blogspot is picking up the slack.Georgia's military isn't exactly net-centric, so it's looking like these attacks are more public-relations related than military. Both Georgia and Russia have been furiously conducting PR ops, spinning the conflict to make it seem like the other guy's fault. World opinion tends to gravitate towards the underdog, so neutralizing Georgia's most convenient and easily accessible communications medium might be Ivan's way of evening the playing field.Then again, it might be a couple of Russian teenagers trying to do their part...Y'know?--John Noonan